Are Ryan Gosling, Mel Gibson, Michael Douglas and several other A-list stars in talks to portray George Michael in a biopic about the late singer? One of this week’s tabloids claims Hollywood producers want multiple actors to play the musician in the same movie. Gossip Cop looked into the situation and we’ve learned the truth.

According to the National Enquirer, so-called “Hollywood bosses” want at least seven different actors to play the pop icon at various stages in his life. In addition to Gosling, Gibson and Douglas, those being considered to appear in the film are said to include Tom Hiddleston, Tom Hardy, Keanu Reeves, Benicio del Toro, Eddie Redmayne and Michael Sheen. Tellingly, the tabloid fails to mention the studio behind the supposed project.

An alleged insider tells the magazine that each actor will tackle a different time in Michael’s life, including his “closet years,” “addiction years” and “fat years, when George was left bloated by his drinking, drug use and health problems.” The questionable source adds, “It’s a huge ask of one actor to portray all that, so splitting the job between several actors not only makes production easier, it also increases the chances of more people paying to see the film.”

Of course, Hollywood trade publications such as Variety and The Hollywood Reporter typically break news about major film projects, but none of the industry magazines have reported that a George Michael biopic is in the works. Regardless, reps qualified to speak on behalf of both Gibson and Douglas tell Gossip Cop on the record that neither actor has been approached to star in such a movie. We also checked in with various sources close to several of the other actors mentioned above, and no one was aware of the supposed biopic. If a film about the late singer should ever go into development, the news will almost assuredly come from a Hollywood trade, not the Enquirer.

It’s worth noting, the untrustworthy tabloid has a long history of coming up with fake film projects. Back in 2015, Gossip Cop busted the magazine for falsely claiming that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were battling over playing Paul Newman in a biopic. In 2014, we debunked the outlet’s phony report about Harry Styles playing Frank Sinatra in a biopic about the late singer. The magazine also created an Adele biopic starring Rebel Wilson and a Hillary Clinton biopic starring Glenn Close. None of these movies were ever released, nor were they ever in any stage of development. The same goes for this nonexistent George Michael biopic starring half of Hollywood.